Deadly Mix Still Amounts To Murder

August 11, 1998|By ROGER CHESLEY Daily Press

HAMPTON — No one on Monday denied that David Lee Wright killed his friend after a night of drinking and an altercation.

Instead, Wright's defense attorney argued that his client shouldn't remain behind bars for the rest of his life in the slaying of Richard Thomas Zug, 45, last year. Timothy Clancy said that Zug earlier pummeled his disabled client, who walks stooped over at the waist because of back problems, which include four ruptured disks.

Circuit Judge William C. Andrews III fashioned a compromise, of sorts: He found Wright, 33, guilty of second-degree murder, lower than the first-degree charge that prosecutors had sought, but not as lenient as the manslaughter charge Clancy had fought for.

"It's murder, but it's a real tragic example of what happens when you mix firearms, alcohol and tempers," said John Haugh, chief deputy commonwealth's attorney.

The case had touches of the bizarre: Police and a neighbor initially saw and talked to Zug after the shooting. But Zug said he didn't want to be bothered and didn't need a doctor, according to witnesses, and police didn't see any bullet wounds on Zug, who was wearing a black T-shirt.

Zug's sister found him dead several hours later on July 27, 1997, in his home.

Several witnesses testified Monday that Wright, Zug and others had been drinking beer and tequila the day and night of July 26, first at the home of Tommy and Jennie Lee White, where Wright was staying. Later, witnesses said, Zug, Wright and another man, Edward Perkins, decided to go to some bars.

Perkins testified that at one point, Wright and Zug argued at one bar, so Perkins and Wright left Zug there while they journeyed to some other bars.

After returning to his house on Atwell, Wright testified, he was somewhat hazy. "I think I had too much to drink," he said.

A short time later, Wright testified, Zug came over to his house yelling something and began "beating the crap out of me." Other witnesses said Wright later had a swollen face and bloodied mouth.

After Zug left, Wright testified, he got the .357 Magnum out from underneath the couch, walked toward Zug's home and stood in Zug's doorway.

"He was running toward me, then he hit the floor," Wright said.

After the verdict, Tommy White said the case put him in sort of a "Catch-22," because the defendant and dead man were both his friends.

But the dead man's brother, Patrick Zug, said Wright lied on the stand, remembering and forgetting things to his benefit.

"He had a convenient memory," Patrick Zug said.

Judge Andrews will sentence Wright on Oct. 28. He faces five to 40 years on the murder charge, plus a mandatory three-year term for a firearm conviction.